Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites - December 2000

My Journey
by Chip Gerber
Webmaster: Marsha Penington
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/chip.html
1st Place - December 2000
Chip is 55, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997. He worked
for over 25 years as a licensed social worker. His daily journal is
online, accented by the always beautiful designs of Webmaster Marsha
Penington of Alzheimer's Outreach. Chip's journal is unique in that
it is not just an account of what he does every day, but it is a
collection of his thoughts, feelings, and reflections on his journey
with Alzheimer's. He expresses his appreciation of and delight in
ordinary things, including his senses of smell, sight, and touch as
he cherishes nature and the changing seasons. Chip gives us a
beautiful way to look at life, in spite of our losses, as Alzheimer's
patients,caregivers, or anyone-- as each of us eventually will suffer
some losses in life. Beautifully written, Chip's "My Journey" is a
wonderful site to visit, helping us realize and count our blessings
and to be thankful for all we have.

Thru His Eyes
by Tim Brennan
Webmaster: Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html
2nd Place - December 2000
Tim Brennan is 57, and he has Alzheimer's disease. He formerly
designed, installed and resolved problems with computers,
information processing, telephone networks, and video conferencing,
and worked for a major bank for 25 years. When he had a heart
attack in 1992, and through medical examinations following that,
it was discovered that he had some type of dementia, and then
in 1993, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Since his diagnosis,
he has written a column for The St. Petersburg Times (Florida),
and articles for Duke University, The University of California
(San Diego), and some Alzheimer's Association chapters, as well
as speaking, and with his wife, beginning a local support group
for early stage Alzheimer's patients. Webmaster Nancy
Walker of Caregiver's Haven, has designed a beautiful site, and
Tim's articles offer practical suggestions about living positively
as someone with Alzheimer's, and his beautiful poetry gives us
all clearer insight into the life of an Alzheimer's patient.

Poems, Prayers, and Promises
by Brenda Race
http://www.geocities.com/brace03/Mom.html
3rd Place - December 2000
Brenda cared for her mother at home until she entered a nursing home
in December 1998. She was still with her every chance she got until
her mother died about a year later in December 1999. Brenda's site,
Poems, Prayers, and Promises, is unique in that it gives a positive
look at the nursing home experience, through her poetry and photos.
Brenda has collected her thoughts, memories, photos, and poems
from all stages in her journey with her mother and Alzheimer's,
and she has illustrated them all so wonderfully with beautiful
backgrounds and graphics. She also has included some poems that
Dorothy Womack wrote for her during her times of grief after her
mother's entrance into the nursing home and as the disease
progressed, taking more and more of her mother from her. It's a
wonderful site, full of beautiful poetry, great photos and
graphics, and tremendous spiritual insight.

Passage into Paradise
by Dorothy Womack
http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html
4th Place - December 2000
Dorothy's book, Passage into Paradise, is her caregiving journal kept
during her time as caregiver for her mother. It is a huge book--
around 200 pages printed out, presented as 25 pages online-- but it
is one that the reader will "not want to put down" until finished.
Dorothy has given us not only her mother's journey with Alzheimer's,
but also the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and pain of a caregiver--
even one who is a woman of great faith. Dorothy's moving poetry and
beautiful photos of her mother are also included, and soft nature and
angel backgrounds help make the book a pleasure to read. Passage into
Paradise has been awarded the Alzheimer's Site of the Week at
About.com and a Suite101 Featured Online Book. Dorothy is a writer
for Today's Caregiver (Caregiver.com), Empowering Caregivers, and her
poems and articles are featured at several other Web sites, including
Alzheimer's Outreach, A Year to Remember, and Poetry.com.


Reviews of the Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites for the Year 2000
will follow this email later tonight, if I'm able to get them out
(very tired--was an exhausting day at work). Votes will be re-set,
and we will also have four January 2001 winners tonight as well.

Congratulations & best wishes to all!

Brenda Parris Sibley
TopADCaregivingSites at Yahoo! Groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TopADCaregivingSites/
Top Alzheimer's/Caregiving Sites at TopSites.com
http://new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/
A Year to Remember
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/